Stretching and exercise are just another way to help promote better scar healing. If yoga is a consideration, you may not know which type is best suited for your needs. Below are a few of the most popular styles of yoga so that you can make the decision of what will work best for you.

Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is also known as hot yoga. This is a form of yoga that is done in a hot and humid room. Bring a towel because you will sweat as much as possible while stretching your muscles and relaxing. People who want to make yoga into a powerful workout can use the Bikram yoga style to sweat out toxins in the sessions.

Yoga Nidra

This is interpreted as yoga sleep. This is a type of yoga where you can focus so clearly that you fall asleep for small amounts of time, but you will feel restored as if you were asleep for many hours on end. This means that you can get a nice rest when you go to the class. Also, you will be able to escape from reality completely when you are in the class.

Ananda Yoga

Ananda yoga is a form of yoga that focuses on each posture being as gentle as possible. When you have bad joints, have been injured or are just beginning, you can take one of these classes so that you can ease your way into the practice of yoga on a regular basis. You may want to step up from these classes once you are more experienced.

Integral Yoga

It is a scientific system which integrates the various branches of yoga in order to bring about a complete and harmonious development of the individual. You will be able to do all the poses in the class, but you will also do a great deal of chanting, relaxation and prayer. This is a class that gives you a little bit of everything for your mind, body and spirit.

These four types of yoga can bring you closer to a sense of relaxation and fitness. People can get into shape quickly during these classes, and they can learn to calm themselves at the same time.

It’s no secret that exercise is great for scar healing. It gets the blood flowing, bringing healing oxygen to the scar area and all over the body, improves muscle tone, burns fat, and gives you lots of energy and stress relief, among other benefits. There’s no better time to work out outdoors than Spring, so try one of these awesome springtime fitness activities to get the scar-healing exercise you need.

Gardening

Daily gardening can not only provide you with delicious and healthy vegetables and fruits or beautiful flowers, it also increases your flexibility, strengthens your joints, lowers your risk for diabetes, and can decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, just like many other exercises.

While gardening, you work all of your major muscle groups, and can easily keep your heart rate elevated by moving briskly. Gardening can also involve a good deal of stretching, particularly when you reach for weeds or high branches, extend a rake, or bend to plant. Pushing wheelbarrows, lifting heavy bags of mulch, and shoveling all strengthen your body, and you achieve these benefits without the high-impact joint stresses of, say, running.

To get the most out of gardening for fitness, work in your garden for at least half an hour a day, several days a week. Start slowly is you aren’t accustomed to exercise, and be sure to bend and lift properly, using your legs and not your back. Perform lots of different tasks, like planting, weeding, and pruning, in order to work all the major muscle groups.

Cycling

Few things are as much fun as riding a bicycle outdoors when the weather finally starts to warm up. In addition to being lots of fun, cycling offers many great health benefits. Contrary to popular belief, cycling does not only involve the legs; the whole body is engaged and strengthened with this activity. It improves muscle tone, is great for joint mobility, and builds stamina. It gets the heart rate up for cardiovascular benefits and burns plenty of calories. It can also be quite refreshing and reduce the stress that builds up under the pressures of daily life.

For the best benefits and a way to begin cycling that ensures you will be able to stick it out long-term, start off slowly. Try two-three times a week to start, and increase your speed gradually as you gain endurance and strength. Finally, safety comes first: remember your helmet and learn about traffic signals for cyclists.

Geocaching

Want to try something really exciting? Why not combine fitness with treasure hunting? Geocaching is a great outdoor activity that you can participate in with friends or family of all ages. Geocaching, if you aren’t familiar with this sport, involves searching for hidden containers which other geocachers hide in almost two million – that’s right – locations around the world. Participants use handheld GPS devices and information from a number of websites listed by other geocachers to aid them in their hunts.

The geocache itself is usually a small plastic container or other holder that has a logbook and pencil inside, along with inexpensive “treasures” you can trade. The general rule is that if you take something from the container, you replace it with something of equal or greater value.

The adventure and exercise benefits of geocaching occur because caches are located in all kinds of places, from city streets to remote wooded trails to underwater locations. So geocaching can be as easy or as challenging as you’d like – start by checking a website like geocaching.com to find simple treks in your local area and see if you don’t have so much fun you’ll want to do this activity more and more often. Many people use their existing smartphones with GPS enabled, or you can invest in a stand-alone GPS device. It’s up to you.

Do you have a question about your scars? Leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer.

Exercise is a great way to reduce scarring. Exercise promotes circulation, which means more oxygen gets to the scar – a very important part of healing. (Incidentally, this is why smoking is linked to worse scarring; it lowers oxygen levels in the blood.) Another benefit of exercise is that it encourages you to drink more water, and adequate hydration, overall, optimizes every bodily function, including healing.

However, in the winter, it can be hard to convince yourself to get off the couch, especially when the couch is so warm and the outside is so cold. No worries – stay warm and toasty while you get moving with these winter fitness tips.

Weight Training
Weight training should always be a part of your fitness routine, as it offers many health and weight loss benefits. And winter is the perfect time to start or step up your strength-building program. You can use your own body weight, or you can use equipment such as dumbbells, barbells, Kettle bells, or cables.

Dust off that DVD you’ve been meaning to use or look online for exercise ideas and tips on how to do them safely and correctly for maximum results. Start with lower weights and progress gradually. If you want to get out of the house, or need a bit more formal instruction on getting started with weights, this is a great activity to take up at the gym as well.

Pilates
If you’ve never tried Pilates, winter is a great time to start. It is usually done indoors (although you certainly can take it outside when irresistible weather returns). Pilates focuses on strengthening and stretching the whole body, bringing scar-healing, oxygen-rich blood rushing to your muscles and skin and making you look and feel wonderful. Instructional Pilates videos can offer a wide range of guided workouts from beginner level through advanced.

Hot Yoga
When temperatures plummet, hot yoga can be just the thing to get you off the couch and heated up in no time. Hot yoga is a type of yoga performed in a very warm (105 degrees) and humid studio. Its formal name is Bikram yoga. Hot yoga is typically a 90-minute program consisting of 26 poses. The poses are challenging and will give all major muscle groups a great workout, and the heat ensures that you sweat plenty. This all serves to raise your heart rate and strengthen your muscles.

With hot yoga, if you have any health concerns at all, check with your doctor before beginning. Hot yoga is probably not a good option for anyone with heart disease or problems with dehydration, or who have had heatstroke or other heat-related illness before. It is also not for pregnant women. For others, however, hot yoga offers a great workout along with the refreshing and focusing benefits of yoga.

There are plenty of options for staying in shape while staying away from winter’s chill – but if you do want some fresh air, put on some layers and get outside anyway. Walking or running in the cold is very invigorating and refreshing for some people. Also try to find a workout buddy – a friend who will make the commitment with you to stay on top of your fitness goals all winter long.

Have a question about your scar? Leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer.

When it comes to dealing with the healing of scar tissue, exercise can be an invaluable tool to help in the process. With fall just around the corner and kids back in school, it is a great time to take up an exercise routine that can be healthy for your body, as well as to help with healing scars.

Zumba

Zumba is a high impact workout that combines a variety of dance styles into an aerobic, hard-hitting workout. This is an activity that is often done indoors at a local health club and allows for people to get a workout in no matter what time of year.

With such a high intensity workout, your heart rate is going to increase, causing more oxygen to flow through the bloodstream. This provides the scar tissue with the elements it needs to repair itself while the increase in blood flow removes any debris and byproduct from the healing process away, keeping the scar site clean.

Outdoor Running

Fall is a beautiful time to be outdoors. With the weather changing, the temperatures are pleasant and the colors are breathtaking as the leaves begin to change. For people that enjoy being outdoors, running is a great exercise for healing scars. Much like Zumba, it is a high impact workout that will increase breathing rates as well as increase blood flow in the body.

Another reason that running is such a great exercise is because when people’s heart rates increase their bodies produce less Cortisol, or what is commonly known as the “stress hormone.” People with lower stress hormone levels have shown to have better healing rates than those that have higher Cortisol levels.

Yoga

Stretching and massage are two of the most helpful things you can do for your body to promote scar healing. Yoga is a practice that incorporates flexibility, breathing, meditation, and balance to help center the body and mind at the same time. It is a calming practice that also will help to heal scar tissue.

Any time the scar tissue can be moved, stretched, rubbed, and warmed, it breaks down the hard tissues that cause the scar to be rigid or raised. Yoga is a great option for many people, especially post-surgery, because it is not a high intensity workout and can easily be tailored to fit the limitations of any individual. By incorporating yoga into a regular fitness routine, you are allowing the skin fibers to stretch and become more pliable with each session. Over time, the scar will become less hard and noticeably less visible.

Exercise can be a great way to help improve the look of scars. Incorporating a regular workout routine is going to strengthen the immune system and promote hydration. When our bodies work hard, we require more water, as well. Having a stronger immune system will allow the body to heal properly and reduce the appearance of scars. Just remember that it is always recommended that you contact a doctor prior to beginning any exercise regimen.